S5468 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 26, 2012 

Senators permitted to speak therein 

for up to 10 minutes each. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

19TH INTERNATIONAL AIDS 

CONFERENCE 

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am 

proud that the 19th biennial International AIDS conference is being held 

in the Nation’s Capital after 22 years of 

being held abroad. 

President Obama was instrumental 

in bringing the conference back to the 

United States by announcing in October 2009 that the United States would 

lift its entry restriction on people living with HIV. 

The United States has been the leader in combating the scourge of HIV/ 

AIDS, and it is fitting that this significant meeting of the best and brightest 

scientists, philanthropists, activists, 

government leaders, and people living 

with HIV/AIDS is taking place in 

Washington, DC. 

It is made even more symbolic by the 

fact that Washington, DC, has the 

highest rate of AIDS than any city in 

the Nation. 

As we look to ‘‘Turn the Tide Together,’’ as the theme of the conference 

indicates, we must continue to support 

a number of long-term strategies both 

at home and around the world, building 

on the successes we have seen in the 

past few decades. 

Significant scientific breakthroughs 

have been made this year alone, and we 

can see investments we have made to 

fight HIV/AIDS beginning to pay off. 

The National Institutes of Health, for 

example, released a study last fall on 

the HPTN 052 clinical trial that showed 

that if newly infected individuals started antiretroviral treatment when their 

immune systems are relatively 

healthy, they are 96 percent less likely 

to transmit the virus to their 

uninfected partner. 

Others report that the cost of treating HIV is four times less than previously thought. And now more than 

ever, scientists believe that an effective HIV vaccine is within reach. 

These are amazing breakthroughs 

and could reflect the beginning of the 

end as we work toward an AIDS-free 

generation. 

This past year new infection rates 

and AIDS deaths decreased. Twenty 

percent more people had access to 

antiretroviral therapy worldwide in 

2011 than they did in 2010. 

These numbers don’t appear out of 

thin air—they correlate to increased 

investments from the United States 

and the Global Fund. This is a time 

when we must continue funding our investments to fight HIV/AIDS. 

But let’s talk about how we have 

achieved these amazing results. 

President Bush was instrumental in 

establishing PEPFAR. The President’s 

Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief was 

initially a $15 billion commitment over 

5 years to fight the AIDS pandemic. 

Today, PEPFAR is one of the largest 

health initiatives ever established by a 

single country and remains critical to 

saving millions of lives. 

PEPFAR is a strongly bipartisan program, and since its inception, it has directly supported nearly 13 million people with access to care and services. 

As of 2011, the United States supported lifesaving antiretroviral treatment for more than 3.9 million men, 

women, and children worldwide. 

PEPFAR counseled 9.8 million pregnant women to test them for HIV/ 

AIDS, allowing more than 200,000 babies to be born AIDS-free. 

Another key ally in the fight against 

AIDS is the Global Fund. 

The Global Fund was established in 

2002 as a public-private partnership, requiring the buy-in of grant recipient 

countries. These participants must 

commit to continuing the program and 

serving its people after the Global 

Fund grant expires. 

This novel approach has proved wildly successful. To date, the Global Fund 

has supported more than 1,000 programs in 151 countries and provided 

AIDS treatment to over 3 million people. 

The United States must continue to 

be a leading supporter of the Global 

Fund. 

The generosity of the American people has improved and saved lives, 

stemmed the spread of HIV/AIDS, and 

provided medicine, hospitals, and clinics to those who are infected. 

Together, PEPFAR and the Global 

Fund have built health care systems 

where none existed before and allowed 

individuals infected with HIV/AIDS to 

dream of a future. 

These programs also ensure that the 

countries we are working in play a part 

in helping their own people survive and 

thrive. 

While we have made significant 

progress in combating HIV/AIDS, we 

cannot be complacent. 

Here in the Nation’s Capital, the 

AIDS rate is higher than in some SubSaharan African countries, and infection rates are even growing in some demographics. 

In Illinois, 37,000 individuals are living with AIDS, with 80 percent of them 

residing in Chicago. 

Internationally, the gains that we 

have made could easily be lost; the increase of infections in Southeast Asia, 

Russia, and the Ukraine—places that 

have historically had low infection 

rates is alarming. 

If we lose our focus or if international donors stop contributing to 

key programs, we lose out on the momentum built in recent years to combat this disease. 

That is why it is good that this administration continues to push for an 

AIDS-free generation. 

Secretary Clinton announced three 

new efforts during this week’s conference: $15 million in implementation 

research to identify specific interventions, $20 million for a challenge fund 

to support country-led efforts to expand services, and $2 million through 

the Robert Carr Civil Society Network 

Fund to bolster civil society groups. 

Secretary Clinton also noted: ‘‘Creating an AIDS-free generation takes 

more than the right tools, as important as they are. Ultimately, it’s about 

people—the people who have the most 

to contribute to this goal and the most 

to gain from it.’’ She is right. 

Creating an AIDS-free generation is 

about working together to help save 

and improve lives. It is about supporting the individuals and communities that have already made great inroads in addressing this epidemic. 

By reaffirming our leadership to initiatives such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund, which support these individuals and communities, we can continue 

to make a difference. Only then can we 

truly wish to usher in an AIDS-free 

generation. 

f 

OUR SHARED COMMITMENT TO 

FIGHT HIV/AIDS 

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I 

rise to discuss the HIV/AIDS epidemic, 

the tremendous progress we have made 

thus far, and the need to do even more 

if we are going to stop this devastating 

disease in its tracks. 

The fight against HIV/AIDS has been 

a long one. In more than 30 years, approximately 26 million people have 

died from AIDS, and there are still an 

astounding 7,000 new infections every 

day. But our commitment to combating this disease is making important strides. 

In the past decade, new HIV infections fell 20 percent, thanks in large 

part to the lifesaving antiretroviral 

treatment we and our partners are 

making available in every corner of the 

world that AIDS touches. 

We know that relatively healthy people with HIV who receive early treatment with antiretroviral drugs are 96 

percent less likely to pass on the virus 

to their uninfected partners. So treating these individuals not only allows 

them to live their lives in dignity but 

is also an important key to prevention. 

In my home State of Maryland, the 

Jhpiego program has spent decades addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 

South America, Africa, Europe and 

Asia. Jhpiego has made enormous 

strides in prevention of mother-tochild transmission, increasing counseling and testing and providing greater access to antiretroviral drugs. 

Jhpiego has integrated HIV/AIDS 

services with tuberculosis, cervical 

cancer, malaria in pregnancy, family 

planning and maternal and child health 

services, to address the problem of coinfection among HIV/AIDS patients 

and to reach as many people as possible. These integrated services represent the future of our health assistance. We have learned from programs 

like Jhpiego’s what our best practices 

should be so that we are innovators in 

prevention, care, and treatment. 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with SENATE
July 26, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5469 

I am pleased that Jhpiego and groups 

like it from across the globe are coming together for this week’s AIDS 2012 

conference in Washington, DC. This 

conference is the largest gathering of 

professionals working in the field of 

HIV in the world and will bring together more than 20,000 people from 

more than 120 counties all working together to create a blueprint for combating HIV/AIDS. I can only imagine 

the exciting new synergies that will develop when so many innovative, committed individuals are in the same 

room. 

Among the presenters are luminaries 

from the public, private, and multilateral sectors such as President Bill Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary 

Rodham Clinton, and former U.S. First 

Lady Laura Bush, Her Highness MetteMarit, Crown Princess of Norway, 

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, 

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel 

Sidib, Sir Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bill Gates. 

This is the first time the United 

States has hosted the conference in 

two decades, and I believe it is the 

right moment for us to be showcasing 

our strong bipartisan effort to bring 

the AIDS epidemic to an end. 

The United States has long been a 

leader in the global fight against HIV/ 

AIDS. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Development Assistance, I am 

proud to note that from 2004 to 2010 the 

United States spent more than $26 billion on bilateral funding to fight AIDS. 

From my experience leading this subcommittee, I know that dedicated government experts from an array of U.S. 

agencies are involved in the fight, as 

are thousands of nonprofits and community organizations. 

Yet despite the progress that the 

numbers and statistics tell us, the 

story on the ground is still heartbreaking, and now is not the time to 

rest on our laurels. International antiAIDS funding has not increased significantly since 2008. In places like the 

Congo, for example, doctors are only 

able to supply antiretroviral drugs to 

15 percent of the people who need them. 

Globally, just 8 million of the 15 million treatment-eligible patients in 

AIDS-ravaged poor regions of the world 

are getting antiretroviral drugs. 

We must do better. We must do better to improve the lives of people living 

with HIV/AIDS, and we must do better 

to save the lives of their loved ones. 

Some experts believe that ‘‘fatigue 

and forgetting’’ are two of the reasons 

we have not reached more people. 

Though we have been working on treating this disease for decades, we still 

have an overwhelming number of infections to treat. 

But the good news is that scientists 

now believe we have the tools to make 

serious progress in the fight against 

AIDS. Scientific advances over the last 

year have been remarkable, and we 

can’t afford to abandon the fight and to 

lose momentum now. 

In a recent Washington Post article, 

Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of 

UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations 

Program on HIV and AIDS, said, ‘‘The 

previous generation fought for treatment, our generation must fight for a 

cure.’’ 

I am proud that in just the last year, 

the National Institutes of Health has 

increased spending on cure-related research by $56 million. This is a step in 

the right direction, and I want to see 

us do more. I stand with the entire 

HIV/AIDS medical community in renewing the call to prevent, treat, and 

cure HIV/AIDS. Let’s use the opportunity of this historic gathering to 

renew our call to work on creating an 

AIDS-free generation. 

f 

2012 OLYMPICS GAMES 

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, tomorrow evening, hundreds of athletes from 

across the world will gather in London 

for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 

Summer Olympic games. 

Among those marching in the Parade 

of Nations will be 20 athletes from Illinois. 

Making his Olympic debut in the 100- 

meter butterfly is Tyler McGill, a native of Champaign. After turning in the 

second-fastest time in the world this 

year at the U.S. Olympic trials, Tyler 

will be swimming for a spot at the top 

of the podium in London. 

Lake Forest native and Northwestern 

Wildcat Matt Grevers is already an 

Olympic Gold-medalist as a member of 

the two winning relay teams in Beijing. This year, he’ll be swimming for 

individual Gold—and maybe a world 

record—in the 100-meter backstroke. 

As the son of an All-American, swimming is in Conor Dwyer’s blood. After 

achieving personal bests in every event 

in which he competed at the trials, the 

Winnetka native will compete in the 

400-meter freestyle as well as a relay at 

his first Olympic games. 

Star diver Christina Loukas was born 

in Riverwoods, where she began swimming and diving at an early age. Although she moved away from Illinois 

after high school, Christina remained a 

Cubs fan and returns to Chicago often. 

Chatham’s Kelci Bryant will join 

Christina on the women’s diving team 

as she competes in the 3-meter synchronized diving event. Already a twotime NCAA champion, this will also be 

Kelci’s second Olympics. 

Algonquin runner Evan Jager won 

four Illinois State titles in cross-country and track, but he will be competing 

in a relatively new sport for him—the 

steeplechase—at this year’s Olympics. 

He qualified for the team after just a 

few years training for the grueling 

event. 

Chicago’s track and field star Wallace Spearmon, Jr., will be looking for 

vindication this year in the men’s 200- 

meters—a high-pressured sprint that 

will include many of the fastest runners of all time. 

Dawn Harper, who hails from my own 

hometown of East St. Louis, will be defending her 2008 Olympic Gold Medal in 

the 100-meter hurdles in London. She 

won in Beijing in a thrilling upset and 

with a personal best time, making her 

the one to beat in this year’s games. 

Member of the Fighting Illini and 

All-American Gia Lewis-Smallwood 

made her first international team in 

2011 after competing in the discus for 11 

years. She remained in Champaign 

after graduating, where she not only 

trains but also volunteers at the nearby YWCA and with Parkland Community College. 

Competing in the men’s discus event 

will be Lance Brooks, a New Berlin 

high school graduate who attended Decatur’s Millikin University, where he 

played for the men’s basketball team. 

Growing up in Itasca, Sarah Zelenka 

tried swimming, soccer, volleyball, and 

basketball. But it wasn’t until she 

went to college that this naturally 

gifted athlete found her sport: rowing. 

She has since won gold at the Rowing 

World Cup and World Championships 

and will be looking to add an Olympic 

medal to that collection in London. 

Rowing twins Grant and Ross James 

have competed next to each other their 

entire lives and share their biggest 

fan—their mom. After Ross captured 

the final seat on the eight-man boat 

going to London, the twins learned 

that they had fulfilled their lifelong 

dream of competing next to each other 

at the Olympics. 

At 6 feet 9 inches, Sean Rooney is a 

natural for the sport of volleyball. He 

was named Illinois’ Player of the Year 

in 2001 when he led his high school 

team, Wheaton-Warrenville South, to 

an Illinois State championship. He 

competed in his first Olympics in Beijing, where he helped Team USA to a 

gold medal. He will help them defend 

that title this year. 

Bob Willis grew up in Chicago and 

learned to sail on beautiful Lake 

Michigan. After qualifying for the 

Olympic games, he returned briefly to 

Chicago before leaving for London, 

where ‘‘the first water [his] Olympic 

board touched was Lake Michigan 

water.’’ 

Greco-Roman wrestler Ellis Coleman 

grew up in Chicago’s Humboldt Park 

and joined the wrestling team as a way 

to stay out of trouble in a rough neighborhood. His signature move is an impressive leap called the Flying Squirrel, which he may employ as he wrestles to win Olympic Gold this year in 

London. 

Growing up in Naperville, Candace 

Parker was a devoted Chicago Bulls 

fan. So it wasn’t surprising when she 

began to play basketball herself, leading her high school team to multiple Illinois State championships and becoming the first female high school player 

to dunk a basketball in a sanctioned 

game. She has been a member of the 

USA Basketball Women’s National 

Team since 2009 and helped win Gold 

for the United States at the Beijing 

Olympics. 

Swin Cash will join her on the women’s basketball team. Swin was drafted 


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